Saturday, October 11, 2008

Now that the Canucks are on an 164-pt pace with El Capitan Roberto Luongo set to shatter George Hainsworth's 22 shutouts in a season record, let's see what else the opener tells us.

Don Shula might have some tips on undefeated seasons

Who to Boo vs. When to LuuuuuFinally, the boos start to rain down on Toadtuzzi. The guy, as any sane fan knows, should have been banned for life for that attack on Steve Moore yet somehow he still gets paid well to float around the ice in the NHL. The hockey gods curse every team he lands on--the Canucks post-Moore hit, Team Canada 200, Florida and Anaheim were and now Calgary is doomed, as some fans have figured out.Then what is with the "Luuuu" cheers that erupt after every routine Luongo save? Could we please stop that? Save it for the great saves. The guy gets paid to stop the puck. Are we going to scream "Ohhh" after every single Mattias Ohlund hit, too?

Not Just Team Speed but Intelligent Puck PlayNot only was it impressive to see the team actually skate well but also jump on loose pucks then make actual intelligent plays. Even fourth liners Ryan Johnson with a brilliant intercept and feed to Alexandre Burrows' on his second goal and Rick Rypien-ing through the D to score the best goal of the night show the Canucks might have finally figured it out. Speed kills!

Rule #1: Do Not Hit Jarome IginlaFor the most part they followed this simple game plan and did not wake up the Canuck killer. Ohlund's hit when it was 3-0 nearly blew it, though, even if it did get Iginla riled up enough to take a dumb penalty.

Hunchbacks Need to Work on Their SkillsI love hunchbacks. Pittsburgh do not win a Cup without Ron Francis and Ulf Samulesson being good luck hunchbacks. But Taylor Pyatt is going to have to work on his skating and shooting or he will not be long for this NHL. It's obvious Pavol Demitra and Mason Raymond are clicking and having a Steve Bernier-like big guy in Pyatt playing with them makes sense, but Taylor, you have to bury those chances.

Hockey Night in BananadaMike Milbury is highly entertaining and Marc Crawford won a Stanely Cup (thank you, Patrick Roy), but am I supposed to take anything they say seriously considering how incompetent they were at coaching and managing hockey teams?Just click here for a grand look at Mad Mike's record on Long Island.Oh, yeah, and Mark Lee it's not Gee-or-dano (like the frozen pizza) on the Lames' defense, it's "Jor-dano" as in "Jor-gio" Chinaglia or that HK clothing store "Jor-dano."

Is Kipper Done?The difference in the hockey game really was goaltending. Luongo held the fort when the Canucks took too many penalties in the first and Miikka Kiprusoff did not make the crucial saves. Two-on-ones aside, when you give up six goals on 23 shots, you don't win many hockey games.

Puckheads Are Us

Canuckleheads R We!

If you're a Canuck fan by choice or by default, read on! If you aren't, then join us in our worship of things mediocre. Every decade or so we will take you on a wondrous rollercoaster ride to the great big cities of the East Coast where ultimately your hopes will be crushed. In between, sorry, we can't promise too much but at least we can say we were there through thin and thin.